Weiss' Unexpected Encounter
by Darkpenn
Summary: What began as a quiet flight turns into a dangerous test of steel.


**Weiss' Unexpected Encounter**

 _What began as a quiet flight turns into a dangerous test of steel._

 _[Author's note: This story takes place at the end of Volume 4, where Weiss is on a cargo plane, on the way to Mistral. It was written without knowledge of what might happen in Volume 5.]_

Weiss started awake as the cargo plane rolled to a halt. She looked out the little window: they were obviously not in Mistral yet, so this must be the re-fuelling stop the pilot had mentioned.

The re-fuelling was almost complete when the door to the hold opened and a woman climbed in. She was dark-haired, and wore a uniform-style outfit. She carried a long black tube. She took a seat on a box and crossed her slim legs. When she saw Weiss she gave a little smile.

"Not long to Mistral," said the pilot over the loudspeaker as the plane took off. "But we're expecting some turbulence, so hang on to something."

Weiss glanced at the woman. "Let's hope it doesn't get too rough," she said.

The woman just continued to smile. Actually, thought Weiss, it was more like a smirk. Which somehow looked ... familiar.

"Have we met?" said Weiss.

The woman gave a shrug.

"That's a nice jacket," said Weiss. "I have a friend who has one like it. Perhaps you know her. Her name is Ruby Rose."

The woman ceased smiling for a moment. She blinked. And one of her eyes changed from brown to luminous green. Then she blinked again, and it went back to brown. The smile reappeared.

"Or perhaps you know ... Raven Branwen," said Weiss.

The smile disappeared.

Weiss touched the sword on her hip. She tried to remember what else Yang had told her about the fight on the train. Fast, she had said. Strong. Extremely nimble. Very tough.

Tough enough to floor Yang, which was saying a great deal.

"Actually," said Weiss, "you and I have met before. It was just in passing, but I didn't like you then either."

The woman stood up. So did Weiss. They stared at each other across the hold.

The woman held up her hand, as if saying: _a moment, if you please._

Weiss drew her sword, and then swept it down. "When you're ready," she said.

The woman took a scroll from her pocket, looked at it, and then pushed a few buttons. Her outfit glimmered, and then changed to her familiar leggings and corset ensemble. Her hair changed as well. From the black tube, she drew her umbrella. She smiled again.

Weiss looked at her. She's confident and calm, she thought. Maybe I can do something about that.

"The outfit I can almost live with," she said. "But the hair? Really? Isn't that, you know, trying way too hard? But since you're named for a particularly tacky type of ice-cream, I assume that classy understatement isn't really in your design vocabulary."

The smile turned to a scowl. She pulled a blade from the handle of the umbrella. Her eyes changed colour ... to a smouldering crimson.

"And a lace umbrella?" continued Weiss. "I hate to tell you this, but they went out of fashion twenty, maybe thirty years ago. You might think it has some sort of retro charm, but retro is so ... past."

The eyes turned red.

"You know who had some style?" said Weiss. "Roman. Maybe he could give you some tips ... but, oh, wait, he's dead, isn't he? Really, really dead. And you were the one who was supposed to protect him. I guess that's a very big Fail for you. They don't get much bigger than that, do they? You had one job to do and you blew it, completely. That's probably why Cinder and the others left you behind. They didn't want a failure hanging around them."

Neo charged, swinging her blade with one hand and the umbrella with the other. But Weiss was ready. She blocked the blade with her own sword and dodged the umbrella. She backflipped, whacking into Neo with one of her heavy heels. Her umbrella went flying.

Weiss came up facing her opponent. She touched the sword hilt, to change into ice mode ... and then remembered that the crystals that fuelled her sword were in her carry-case.

So it would be steel to steel.

Suddenly, the plane jerked, and yawed sideways. Turbulence. Both Weiss and Neo went sliding into boxes.

But Neo was up again in a moment, slashing at Weiss. Weiss blocked the blade again, and took some satisfaction from the fact that Neo was no longer smirking. Indeed, she looked quite angry. Good, thought Weiss. An enemy not in control of themselves is already half-defeated.

Their blades locked, Neo kicked out at Weiss, catching her on the side. Weiss gave a grunt of pain and jumped back. Neo swivelled, aiming to use her agility to evade Weiss' longer sword.

Weiss conjured a pair of glyphs, jumping onto one and then bouncing onto the other. Now she was behind Neo. She braced against the glyph, and leaped –

And then, too late, realised that Neo was ready for the move. Neo kicked out again, a looping kick that sent Weiss flying across the hold and into a pile of crates, held in place by ropes.

She is incredibly fast, thought Weiss as she struggled to her feet. Faster than Yang, faster than ... me.

The plane gave another series of shuddering jerks. It began to climb upwards, and Neo slid backwards a few steps. Then she began to come forward again. Then she saw her umbrella, half-under a box. She reached down to extract it.

I am outmatched, thought Weiss. Simple as that. She is going to win, and I am going to die.

An odd comment drifted into her mind. From Whitley. Her loathed, loathsome brother. What had he said, once, when they had been playing a game?

 _When outmatched, cheat._

Weiss raised her sword and slashed at the ropes holding the crates in position. She jumped aside as they began to slide across the hold ... straight for Neo. She tried to leap up but the hold was too confined. They slammed into her, pushing her back.

One crate smashed into the door of the cargo hold, and there was a sudden hurricane wind as he door flew open.

"I never thought I would say this," Weiss murmured to herself, "but thanks, brother."

Neo managed to extract herself from the cascade of crates although she was clearly hurt, limping a little and holding one arm back. But she had her umbrella now, as well as the blade.

Weiss lifted her sword again, ready.

The voice of the pilot came over the speaker. "Sorry about all that, ladies. But we'll be landing in Mistral in a few minutes. So, no further problems."

Neo stared at her. Then she slid the blade back into the umbrella. She walked to the open door. She opened the umbrella.

And then she bowed.

Weiss pointed her sword downwards. "Another time, perhaps," she said.

Neo gave that smile again. Then she stepped backwards ... out the door. In a moment, she was gone.

Weiss sagged down, rubbing her bruises. Eventually, she got up and pulled the door closed. She looked out the window as the plane touched down.

Well, I'm here, she thought, and there's no way back. Now what?

END


End file.
